COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (June 28, 2013) – U.S. player Jennifer Kessy (San Juan Capistrano) has taken a medical withdrawal from the 2013 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships to be held in Stare Jablonki, Poland on July 1-7.

“I’ve had some hip issues and I had an Achilles issue in the Brazil World Cup that was caused by the hip problem,” Kessy said. “I need to take a break. Sadly it came during World Championships, but I didn’t want to do any further permanent damage.”

Kessy’s partner April Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.), with whom she won the silver medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, will compete at the World Championships with Whitney Pavlik (Laguna Beach, Calif.).

Kessy said she will most likely miss the FIVB Grand Slam in Gstaad, Switzerland (July 9-14), but plans to compete with Ross at the Grand Slam in Long Beach, Calif., on July 22-27 and in more events during the 2013 season.

“I’m not retiring,” Kessy said. “I do eventually want to slow down and spend more time with my husband (French beach volleyball player Andy Cès, whom she married in March), but April and I are still playing together. I really wanted to try to win another World Championship.”

Kessy and Ross won the 2009 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships in Stavanger, Norway. As a team they have medaled at 32 FIVB beach volleyball events, including 10 gold medals. Most recently, they took silver on June 23 at the Rome Grand Slam.